


The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

by TheWildWoods



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester Mutual Pining, Destiel - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, Gay Castiel (Supernatural), High School Castiel/Dean Winchester, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Slash, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1950-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-21 16:25:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13744803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWildWoods/pseuds/TheWildWoods
Summary: DISCONTINUEDDean and Cas have been inseparable since second grade, and they are now in their third year of high school. We've got mutual pining going on here. Will they be able to get their heads out of their asses and look the truth in the face? We'll just have to see.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, okay, this is genuinely horrible, and I don't know why I'm not deleting it. I wrote it a while ago, posted it a while later, and just recently reread it. I would fix it, but I have DEFINITELY left the fandom. Please, proceed at your own risk.

Chapter 1  


They had met in second grade, when the Winchesters moved into town. They were both the same age, in the same class, and only lived a couple blocks away from each other. It only made sense that they would get to know each other, become friends. However, they were so fundamentally different that no one anticipated exactly how close they'd become. Dean loved sports, movies, and a rough-and-tumble style of playing. Cas loved reading, music, and for some unfathomable reason, bees.  


It was their shared love of nature that brought them together. When Cas discovered that the new boy loved hiking and exploring as much as he did, he immediately demanded that his parents take them to the local woods so that they might go on an expedition. From that moment on, the two became inseparable. The peanut butter to the other's jelly, the Sherlock to the other's Watson.  


And so they grew up. They gathered many other wonderful friends along the way, but none of them could replace each other. Dean and Cas's friendship had survived the drama of middle school, and it had survived the first two trying years of high school. Hopefully, it would continue to blossom as the duo entered their third year.  


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  


Dean's POV  


Dean shaded his eyes from the early August sun as he scanned the hallways of Bunker High for his friend, Cas. Soon, he caught sight of a familiar shock of dark, ruffled hair. "Cas!" he shouted across the crowded halls.  


Cas turned in reaction to his name and met Dean's eyes. He grinned and motioned for Dean to join him by his locker. The latter strode over and through an arm over Cas's shoulders in a partial embrace. It hadn't been that long since they'd seen each other- just the last week of summer that Cas had been on a church trip- but Dean had still missed his friend.  


"Have fun meditating in the woods?" Dean asked playfully. He almost had to shout the words over the din the students were making on their first day back.  


"Shuddup," Cas mumbled with a laugh, knocking Dean's arm away. "Come on, we have to get to class. It wouldn't do to be late on our first day. I've got History with Mrs. Stacey, how about you?"  


Dean gave his schedule a once over. "Hey, me too. And jeez, one day and you're already uptight. One tardy won't kill you, you know."  


"Junior year, Dean, junior year! This is the year the colleges decide if we're worthy or not," Cas countered.  


Their arms bumped together as they continued their playful banter. Slowly making it to first period, Dean couldn't help but noticed Cas' flushed cheeks in response to the summer heat. It did not hurt his appearance. If anything, it improved it. 'Stupid,' Dean thought, 'Stupid, stupid, damn it to hell. You cannot think of your best friend that way.'  


Luckily for Dean, a redheaded whirlwind by the name of Charlie had noticed them and jolted Dean out of his unwanted thoughts. She ran up to Dean and gave him a tight hug, then the same to Cas. After Cas, Dean was closest to Charlie.  


"What's up, bitches?" she said in a typical Charlie fashion. She had spent the summer at a tech camp on the other side of the country, so Dean hadn't seen her at all the past two months. The three caught up as the walked, and when they got to Mrs. Stacey's room, Charlie ran off with a promise of meeting them at their usual spot for lunch.  


The classroom was already three quarters full when Cas and Dean entered. Spotting two empty desks next to each other, Dean dragged Cas to the back of the room and quickly claimed them. Mrs. Stacey began lecturing about rules in a monotonous tone, and Dean quickly zoned out. He and the other students had already heard this spiel about a thousand times in years past, so it was nothing special.  


Unfortunately, with nothing to distract him, Dean's mind turned back to Cas. They had always been really close, but in the past year, Dean's feelings for him had diverged slightly from the 'Platonic Best Friend' role. Things that used to escape his notice, such as Cas's clear blue eyes or the way he could concentrate all of his focus on a single thing, now entered Dean's scrutiny. At first, he could just brush it off as a passing phase (maybe he was just extra observant now?), but Dean was now painfully aware that he harbored a not-so-little crush on Castiel Novak.   


                     

         *       *        *          *        *          *           *          *         *        *           *          *           *         *             *         *            *  


After the first four classes of the day had finally passed, of which Dean shared with Cas only the one, it was finally lunchtime. Dean made his way to him and his friends' spot in the corner of the cafeteria. They had this one table they agreed to eat at every lunch, and so far, had stuck to it.  


As Dean's fourth period, English, was fairly far from the cafeteria, he was the last to arrive. Cas, Charlie, Kevin, Garth, and Meg were all sitting there looking at him expectantly. There were, however, one more person than normal. Dean's younger brother, Sam, was awkwardly standing at the end of the table.  


"Hey, Sammy, what's up?" Dean said casually. He knew that it being Sammy's first day of high school and all, there were bound to be some nerves involved.  


Sam sighed and said, "Don't call me Sammy. And none of my friends have this lunch period. I don't know who to sit with."  


Cas spoke up. "My brother, Gabriel, is new here, too. I am sure he would welcome you. He is sitting over there."  


Looking relieved, Sam gave a "Thanks, Cas" and headed off in the direction Cas had indicated.  


Once Dean saw that his brother had a place to go, the former took his usual spot next to Cas. Dean's leg brushed up against Cas's, and he silently cursed himself for even noticing.  


"So how was everyone's summer?" He forced out to put his attention elsewhere. Even though they had all seen each other at some point over the break and therefore already knew the answer, this produced a conversation in which Dean was a grateful participant.  


When the hateful bell rang, the six all made their way to their respective classes. Dean's next class was gym, and, as luck would have it, so was Cas's. In the locker room, the teacher assigned them all lockers and then gave a speech about the football season. Dean, having made the team the previous year, paid close attention to this.  


     After that, the rest of the day flew by. Dean texted Cas and Charlie to see if they were free after school. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, they decided to all meet at Dean's place. Since his dad, John, was rarely there, and they all agreed that Sam was a cool sibling, Dean's place was the optimal one to hang out.  
Dean met Sam and Cas outside the school (Charlie had already left), and they walked home. When they got there, Charlie was sitting on the front stoop waiting for them.                             
"It's about time," she laughed, "I've been waiting here for HOURS."  
     "You are such a riot. I mean, seriously, Charlie, you should consider comedy as a possible career path," Cas shot back as Dean unlocked the front door. Dean smirked at his friend's sass. Normally, Cas was the more serious one. It was nice seeing him having fun for a change.  
     Inside, Dean, Cas, and Charlie went to Dean's room while Sam stayed in the kitchen to make himself a smoothie. Cas, who played the violin like a freaking professional, began talking about the Bunker High Chamber Orchestra that he's gotten into.  
     'Overall,' Dean thought as he listened to Cas's ramblings, 'Not a bad first day.' Now all he had to do was get over this little crush...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas makes a confession to Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my second chapter. Just a warning, this one does contain one Game of Thrones spoiler. And thank you to everyone is reading this. I really didn't expect that many to read it.

Dean's POV  
The weeks passed, but Dean's feelings did not. It was well into October, when the summer heat was long gone and the days were beginning to shorten, when he gave up on trying to be rid of his crush on Cas. Instead, he just focused on keeping it a secret. It was a snowball's chance in hell that his feelings were requited, and no way would he want to lose the best friend he had ever had over this. Also, if someone other than Cas found out, they would tease him mercilessly over it.  
And there was also the (not so) small issue of his sexuality. Dean had always considered himself as straight as an arrow, but now he was not so sure. It wasn't like he'd ever had feelings for another dude before, but straight guys don't crush on their best male friend.  
Dean knew that Cas was 100% accepting of the LGBT crowd (Charlie, was after all, lesbian), but he also knew that Cas's very religious family was not. It was also a problem that Cas was straight. He had gone out once with their friend, Meg, but it hadn't worked out and they were good friends now.  
Dean snorted and shook his head, amused at his thought process. Look at him, overanalyzing everything like a damn girl.

Cas's POV  
School had been going pretty decently for Cas. He had his friends, his overbearing brother, Michael, was away at college, and he had his orchestra. Ever since he had started playing in fifth grade, Cas had kind of been in love with playing the violin and in orchestras. He was rarely seen without that black case, much like Charlie and her fandom shirts or Kevin and his textbooks.  
Michael had always slightly disapproved of Cas's playing, mostly because it distracted him from the church. But, like he's said before, Michael was off studying religion and he could devote as much time to his music as he liked.  
Yes, things were going well for Cas.

* * * * * * * *

The day was a Friday. The location was Bunker High School. The time was three o'clock.  
The bell had rung fifteen minutes ago, releasing the prisoners for a few short days. Dean and Cas had made weekend plans with each other- sleeping over at Dean's house and binge watching Game of Thrones. The school had mostly emptied out by then, just a few stragglers left in the halls. Cas had grabbed his violin from the music room and hurried over to the lockers where Dean was waiting.  
As Cas walked down the corridor, he nervously wiped his palms on his jeans. Tonight, he was going to pluck up enough courage to tell Dean one of his two best kept secrets. Of course, the second one, the one involving Dean, he would almost certainly never reveal.  
When Cas spotted Dean leaning against the lockers, he gave a nervous wave and walked over. "Hey," he greeted Dean. "Are you ready to finally see Joffrey get some justice?"  
"Dude, I've been ready to see something terrible happen to that bastard since day one," Dean replied, pushing himself off the lockers and begin walking.  
Cas and Dean already knew that something terrible was going to happen soon to Joffrey because of Charlie and her damn spoilers. She was up to date with the current episodes, unlike them. 'Lucky,' Cas thought, 'because it gives me an exuse to hang out so much with Dean.'  
Cas's family wasn't outspokenly homophobic, but he could tell that they didn't support it 100% like he did. They seemed to disappprove of how much Cas hung out with Dean. Cas was sometimes paranoid that they had figured out both of his secrets and that was why.  
Actually, it would be totally hypocritical of him if he was a homophobe, because of...well... what he was going to tell Dean.  
"So, Cas," Dean said as they started walking, "You know how I was dating Lisa, right?"  
'How could I forget?' "Yeah, why?"  
Dean shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. "We broke up. A couple weeks ago, actually."  
"What!? I thought you guys were going to be that couple that got married after high school." 'Unfortunately, I really did believe that.' "Why'd she break it off? And why'd you wait so long to tell me?"  
"Actually... I broke if off with her. Guess it just wasn't working for me," he replied, shrugging.  
Dean had an odd look in his eyes, so Cas decided not to press his lack of response for the second question.  
The two then walked in a companiable, if a tad bit awkward, silence for the rest of the trip to Dean's house. 

Dean's POV  
Dean could tell that Cas was bothered that he wasn't immediately informed when Dean broke up with Lisa, and why, but it wasn't like Dean could just tell him. 'I broke up with my girlfriend because I actually like my best friend way more and would rather go out with him!' Yeah, that would go over well.  
Actually, Cas seemed a little out of it today. Dean was hoping that he'd snap out of it, or at least tell what was wrong.  
Cas was the first to break the silence. "Where's Sam?" he asked in a dull tone when they entered the house.  
"...He's at your house. Sleepover with Gabriel. Guess the two really hit it off," Dean responded, at little surprised that Cas didn't know. Honestly, Dean thought that Cas was just saying that just for the sake of having something to say.  
There was definitely tension in the air, Dean could sense it. Though about what, he didn't know. Probably whatever Cas was so on edge about.  
Cas settled onto Dean's bed while the latter set up Game of Thrones on his laptop. They laid on their stomachs next to each other, and Dean was relived to see that Cas seemed to forget about whatever was on his mind.  
After watching for a while ("Finally, sweet justice for the bastard!"), the sun was low in the sky and awkward Cas was back.  
"Dude, what is up with you. Come on, you can tell me. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad," Dean finally voiced after Cas had been staring into the abyss for the past five minutes instead of the computer. When Cas didn't say anything, Dean shut the laptop, propped his head up on his elbows, and looked at Cas expectantly.  
It was just hitting Dean how close they were. He was hyperaware of Cas's paler-than-usual cheeks, and the way their legs were pressed up against each other.  
Cas reluctantly turned his head to face Dean. He blinked and swallowed. "I... I made a promise to myself that I was going to tell you something this weekend. It's a secret about me that I've only told one other person, and you have to 'swear' not to tell," Cas muttered.  
"It's alright, you can tell me. I promise not to tell a single soul," Dean swore softly. He somehow knew that this wasn't the time to make a joke like he normally would.  
Cas blew out a puff of air and stuttered out, "I... I don't like... I'm gay."  
Dean blinked. This was not what he was expecting. He was something more along the lines of, 'I do drugs,' or 'I was adopted.' But this... On the outside, he hoped he was maintaining a cool façade. Inwardly, though, Dean was doing a mini happy dance. If Cas was gay, then maybe he had a shot!  
"Well, say something," Cas demanded.  
Realizing that he'd been silent for half a minute after Cas's grand reveal, Dean quickly said, "That's great! I mean, I'm glad you were able to come out to me. Really good. Um, yeah."  
Cas smiled, and all the tension seemed to just melt away.  
"Just out of curiosity, who was the other person who knew?"  
"Oh, that was Meg," Cas laughed. "I think she could kind of sense it, you know? Anyway, that's the reason we didn't work out but were still able to be friends."  
Dean laughed along with Cas. After that, the rest of the weekend passed by quite enjoyably.


End file.
